Why do feet smell?

Hey cool cats, I’m Dr. Universe here to answer your baffling science questions. Like this one. Dear Dr. Universe, why do feet smell? We live in a world filled with all kinds of smells. Take off your tennis shoes after a long day and you might even get a whiff of something pretty stinky. You can blame it on your bacteria. Millions of these tiny things live on your feet. While bacteria are too small to see without a microscope, sometimes you can simply smell them doing their job. They like dark, damp warm places where they can eat dead skin and drink sweat. Inside your shoes and socks for example. There are more glands that produce sweat on your feet than on any other part of the human body. As bacteria eat there, they also turn your dead skin and sweat into chemical products that can really reek. It might just make you wanna plug your nose, but at least you’ll know the system that helps you smell, your olfactory system, is working well. Got a science question of your own? Send it in at AskDrUniverse.wsu.edu.